Thank you very much.
Thank you for opening the committee to public input. It's really important and very refreshing.
We have submitted a brief to the committee. We hope to have a place at the table later on as you continue with your hearings. Today, however, I want to draw your attention to the unlevel playing field that is our tax system and how it impacts some of the issues you heard about today.
The media has been going wild this week with stories about Donald Trump not paying taxes. There are other stories about KPMG, Google, and Apple and all the offshoring that's happening. We want to tell you that it's not just Google and it's not just KPMG and it's not just Donald Trump. Tax avoidance by multinationals and very wealthy Canadians happens in Canada every single day. It is enabled by tax lawyers and by the financial industry. The current rules are too vague. Even those organizations admit to that and are asking for changes. That small group of individuals, though, has funnelled $270 billion of untaxed Canadian money offshore. They too are sending a message that it's smart to avoid taxes. Even when Canada has the second-lowest corporate tax rate in the G7, it's still happening, and it's getting worse every year.
It makes sense to Canadians that profits made in Canada should be taxed in Canada. Small and medium-sized businesses, as you've heard today, are doing that for the most part, but that policy should also apply to Canadian multinationals and some of the big digital companies that make money here but do not pay tax here because of the regulations. So right now that's not happening.
One of the things we're concerned about is that the economy is changing, and digital companies like Google and Netflix are using those regulations because we haven't caught up. Those tax rules haven't caught up, and the tax-dodging industry knows it.
We're really happy that we have this opportunity to remind you of that situation and to tell you that there are three ways that we think the government could raise additional revenue: close those tax loopholes, stop that corporate offshore tax-dodging, and change the rules so that online companies pay corporate tax and GST on Canadian profits. Canada is one of the largest users of online products in the world. We're crazy for the Internet, and yet a lot of the money that's being made here is not being taxed here.
Those options, if we fully implement them, could raise an additional $20 billion annually. That should help answer some of your concerns about balancing the budget. This morning you heard from some very hard-working and very innovative and creative British Columbians. We hope you advise the finance minister of our recommendations so that the tax system works for all of them.
Thank you.